League of Legends: Best Tanks

Introduction

Hello! Today I'm going to talk about what I think the best 5 tanks in League of Legends are at the moment. Without further ado, let's get into it!

Amumu

Amumu | Source

Amumu is widely considered to be one of the best champions in LoL, due to his high AoE damage output and his ability to hugely influence games. Because of this, he is almost always banned in ranked games. He is mostly played in the jungle, but he can be played top in a pinch.A few tips when playing as Amumu:

When jungling, ask your team to guard your red buff, because if Amumu gets behind in the jungle he will be much more ineffective early game than normal.

Don't be afraid to initiate with a Q-R combo 1v5, as long as your team is there to fight! Your R will disable the entire enemy team for a few seconds, enough for your team to deal a ton of damage to their team.

Try to stay ahead of enemy champions when ganking, it makes it harder to escape and it makes sure your W and E hit them for maximum damage.

Why he is one of the best tanks:

Is almost always banned in ranked

All abilities but Q are AoE

Deals constant % damage with W

Is very difficult to kill in teamfights

Malphite

Malphite | Source

Malphite, like Amumu, is also almost always banned in ranked games, due to his high damage, his initiate, and the massive amount of punishment he can take. Malphite is primarily played top lane, although he can be played in the jungle. People primarily stack lots of armor on Malphite, because his E scales off armor. Some tips when playing Malphite:

Once you hit level 6, start using your ult to stop enemies from escaping from fights.

Your passive's shield is extremely strong, try avoiding harassing when it is down, then start harassing with it up so you can take no damage.

Most AD champions cannot trade well with you in lane once you have some armor

Why he is one of the best tanks:

One of the best initaites in the game

Very, very difficult to kill due to passive

Can easily catch you and kill you

Rammus

Rammus | Source

Rammus is a very powerful tank vs. AD heavy teams, due to his taunt, shield, and passive. However, vs. more AP heavy teams, he is weaker due to having less armor to get bonus AD with. He is still a very strong choice however, having a long taunt, a powerful AoE ultimate, and an escape/ganking tool in his Powerball. He is almost always played Jungle because his Powerball allows for fast, powerful ganks, and his damage-reflecting shield is amazing when you are being hit constantly, like in the jungle. Tips when playing Rammus:

When ganking, be sure to use Powerball in the river, a bit past Dragon/Baron. This will allow the speed to get higher, giving you a faster way to attack the enemy lane.

During teamfights, taunt the enemy AP carry to prevent them from using abilities for several seconds. If no AP carry is available though, taunt the AD carry, preventing them from killing your carries.

Using Powerball with your shield on will cancel the shield, only use Powerball when your shield is not currently on.

Why he is one of the best tanks:

Very strong ganks

A long, powerful taunt

Can get massive amounts of AD from stacking armor

Shen

Shen | Source

Shen is extremely good at almost everything, having good amounts of damage, an ability that can heal himself and allies, a taunt that doubles as an escape, a shield, and a global teleport that shields the target. Because of all this, he is banned in almost every ranked game. Shen is best played jungle, as his healing combined with his shield make him a very strong jungler. His ultimate is one of the best in the game, allowing him to push a different lane than his team, only to then teleport to an ally and start a teamfight. Some tips for playing as Shen:

Your Ki strike triggers on towers, use this to push faster.

Your ultimate is very good for split pushing, push a different lane than your allies, and if they are attacked, ult onto your team's carry and start fighting

Your taunt can go through walls, use it as an escape tool.

Why he is one of the best:

Has everything you could want in a tank

Can easily protect carries with ult

Has enough damage to be a threat

Mundo

Mundo | Source

Mundo, while not having the CC of other tanks, makes up for it by dealing tons of damage and being very hard to kill. His abilities and passive want you to stack health, and this is perfect for Mundo, as it allows him to have 4000+ hp while dealing lots of damage. He is almost always played jungle, having one of the fastest jungle speeds in the game, However, because his abilities cost health, early game in the jungle, you can put yourself at low health. For more information on jungling with Mundo, check out my guide: http://dualsider.hubpages.com/hub/League-of-Legends-Good-Junglers-DrMundo. Tips when playing as Mundo:

Your Masochism gets stronger the lower hp you are, use this to your advantage in fights, being at low hp can be a good thing when you have 250+ AD.

If you are ignited, do NOT use your ultimate. It will give barely more than the 20% health cost due to ignite's healing reduction.

Getting Merc Treads on Mundo is great, as combined with Burning Agony, CC will be heavily reduced on you.